Clerk: 'Wall of Shame' jeered about 'exterminated' employees

11:35 PM,
Mar. 7, 2014

Point Pleasant Municipal Complex on Bridge Ave.

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The borough's tax collector kept a fake urn of ashes and acted much like Adolf Hitler when she told workers she "exterminated" problem employees, a tax clerk claims in a lawsuit.

A five-count civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court, Toms River, claims Tax Collector Bernadine Pearce was abusive toward employees, discriminated against people with disabilities and created a hostile work environment.

Tax clerk Michelle Ruppert, 45, of Lacey, filed suit this week against the borough, Pearce and Business Administrator David Maffei, seeking an unspecified amount in damages. Ruppert is ...